Rikers Island jails could close faster than expected, report says

The accelerated timeline would reduce the cost of shuttering Rikers by $700 million to $9.85 billion, according to the commission. (Seth Wenig/AP)

A blue ribbon panel that provided a roadmap last year for shuttering Rikers Island issued an updated report Thursday stating that its jails could close faster than previously thought.

The Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform said in its report that the island's jails could be shut and replaced by borough facilities by 2024 — three years sooner than its initial projection.

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The commission attributed the accelerated timeline to a number of factors, including Rikers' jail population shrinking by 10% to 8,900 in the past year and half. It also credited the state for expediting the process to build borough detention centers that would replace Rikers.

"Since the commission released our report recommending the closure of Rikers one year ago, there has been significant achievement towards this goal," said former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who chairs the commission.

"Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and many city council members have had the courage not only to support closing Rikers in theory, but to put real stakes in the ground to make it a reality."

The commission said at least two of the borough jails should be well under way by the time Mayor de Blasio (pictured) leaves office in 2022. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

To stay on track with a 2024 closure, the city must continue to reduce the number of people in jail, the panel said.

The report has urged the state Legislature to reform the current cash bail system as a way to cut the population on Rikers. However, the commission said the city could do this without the state's help by increasing the number of people who are released on their own recognizance while awaiting trial.

The commission also called on the city to make significant progress in opening detention facilities in each of the five boroughs. It said at least two of the borough jails should be well under way by the time Mayor de Blasio leaves office in 2022.

The accelerated timeline would reduce the cost of shuttering Rikers by $700 million to $9.85 billion, according to the commission.